A light-hearted look at parenting through the eyes of a very busy English Teacher.

The Boy with the Dinosaur Pyjamas

A little poem about being adventurous, beating bullies and achieving your dreams. If you think it needs a bigger audience (of course you do!!), please share!

The Boy with the Dinosaur Pyjamas

There was a young boy whose name was Jimmy,
Tall and lean and some might say skinny,
The thing with Jimmy was that when it came to bedtime,
He was like: “Erm, yep, sure, okay, that’s fine.”

Children, you see, usually when it comes to going to their beds,
They spout out every excuse floating around in their heads.
But for our Jimmy, bedtime’s not a chore,
Because when Jimmy goes to bed each night he rides on top of a dinosaur.

I can see you now saying: “Woah, they’re like extinct!”
Let me explain, I’ll keep it simple and succinct.
Once upon a time young Jim hated catching those Zzzzs,
He had his mum and dad down and begging on their knees,
“Oh Jimmy,” they pleaded. “Sleep is good; it’s not here to harm us.”
And that was when they handed over a pair of magic dinosaur pyjamas.

A dazzling green, you might say lime,
Whatever the colour, Jimmy began to love bedtime,
The magic, you see, shush, come here and gather in,
The magic could only be seen by him.

As night would fall, the pyjamas would shake and wriggle,
As they did this, Jimmy would giggle and jiggle.
Now, come on kids, don’t lose focus,
Because on that first night, out jumped a Diplodocus.

Its neck was long and a tail did sprout,
It had a nose with a super smelling snout,
But don’t fret my dears, this beast is not a scary ‘un,
Didn’t you know the Diplodocus is a vegetarian?

Accepting the magic, Jimmy took it all in his stride,
As he struggled to board his new dinosaur ride,
The dinosaur (lets name it Big Dippy D)
Leant a hand by bending a knee

Dippy D was strong, tall and green,
Jimmy wondered how they were going to slip out of the house unseen,
There was a huge window that led out onto the roof,
Nobody had thought to make the house dinosaur proof,

Out they stepped on into the night,
Guiding their way was the moon shining bright,
Onwards they stepped; they moved on in silence,
The dinosaur’s thoughts were not filled with violence.

Seeing a sauropod up close, the chance is quite slim,
Imagine the excitement bubbling up in our young Jim.
Their adventure however, was almost cut short,
They were almost seen and almost caught

By a passing milk van driving slowly through the dawn,
“Was that a dinosaur, I saw?” said the milkman pressing his horn.
“There’s its long neck, its thick curvy tail,
Four sturdy legs, it’s huge, it’s to scale.”

Big Dippy D stopped dead in its tracks,
It whispered to Jimmy “It’s time to turn back.”
Grabbing hold of his neck, Jimmy gripped on tight,
They had to go home before day consumed night,

Huge strides were made to make it home safe and sound,
“Quick! Slide on down my neck and get onto the ground”
Jimmy let go and he flew down in a whizz,
As the milkman pulled up waving his arms in a tizz,

“What was that I saw? Now, don’t you dare call me ridiculous
But did I just see you sliding down the neck of a diplodocus?”
But it was just little Jimmy standing by his front door,
Wearing his green dinosaur pyjamas, that’s it and nothing more.

The milkman no longer believed what he did see,
Because the magic worked just for Jim, you and me
Off came the PJs, a new day had dawned,
Folded neatly on Jimmy’s bed, a tired dinosaur yawned.

A new adventure awaited but for now it would rest,
But stirring quietly on the left leg was the huge, mean T-Rex.
Jimmy, now at school, was with his friends and having fun,
The T-Rex smiled and patiently waited for night time to come.

————————————————————————–

Come on now kids, I know you want more,
You want a visit from an exciting dinosaur,
Well here it comes; it’s time for a bad ‘un
It grew from Jimmy’s fears though, which makes it a sad ‘un.

Now Jimmy had friends but a few days back,
He found himself coming under attack
From some older boys who didn’t like his hair,
They stood over him, belittled him and made others stare,

Their words, they stuck and the insults did sting,
But Jimmy didn’t want to make it a thing,
His anger he breathed in and out through his nose,
His emotions were passed on through his night clothes,

So dusk did fall and Jimmy undressed,
He climbed into the PJs he loved the best,
Stitched onto his left leg, patiently waiting, was the theropod,
Waiting for the household to visit the Land of Nod.

When you’re a T-rex, it’s hard to stay quiet,
Especially when you’re following a meat only diet.
With its tummy grumbling it grew and awoke,
And to Jimmy’s surprise it had a lisp when it spoke.

“Now listen to me, Jimmy, yes siree,
We’re paying a visit to those boys from Class three.”
“I’m not quite sure Mr T-Rex, if you please,
Getting them to apologise, well, it won’t be a breeze.”

“We’ll see about that, I have my own ways and means
Of getting an apology from snotty nosed tweens.”
They sneaked out of the house without waking a soul,
42 Wood Street was their destination and goal.

A dinosaur with short arms can’t knock on doors,
But it makes up for what it lacks with its menacing roar,
Snoozing in bed is a boy we won’t name,
Because rising above them makes them all the more lame.

A sharp tap on the window was all it took,
For the house to shudder, shake and shook,
Opening a window with force and a clatter,
An angry young boy screamed: “My Gosh! What’s the matter?”

He stopped in his tracks and he could scream no more,
When he was face to face with a huge dinosaur,
Standing on his porch and looking right in,
The young boy could see jagged teeth in its grin.

“Now listen here and listen close,
Making people feel sad makes you ugly and gross.
Don’t be the bad guy. Do you understand fully?
Because no one wants to be friends with the school’s only bully.”

“Yes, Mr Rex oh, don’t eat me please,
Or are you just a slice of undigested cheese?”
“I assure you I’m real just look at my teeth,
I’ve been told that young boys taste like a fine cut of beef,

Have you learnt your lesson? Don’t use words that sting,
Your voice should be used to make the hearts of others sing.”
The dinosaur looked at the bully and winked,
“Take my advice or soon you too will be extinct.

The world won’t suffer those who act like you,
Make a change for the better ensure that you do.”
The boy looked to Jimmy perched way up high,
A coy smile he offered, they shook hands and said bye.

The T-Rex and his master headed back to the house,
Where the dinosaur entered as quiet as a mouse,
Jimmy returned to his bed and laid down to rest,
The T-Rex, satisfied, had completed his test.

Sunlight glared through his window so bright,
A new day was here and gone was the night,
His PJs were thrown into the wash,
His fear of school he was ready to squash.

When Jimmy arrived he was utterly spellbound,
Because his bully waved at him as he entered the playground,
“I’m sorry,” he said “I won’t do it again,
It took a dinosaur with short arms to reach into my brain.”

The two eventually became quite good friends,
But this isn’t where Jimmy’s story quite ends,
Magic, you know, is never as it seems,
Next we need to discuss Young Jim’s hopes, wishes and dreams.

—————————————————————————-

Magic exists you just need to know where to look,
Whether it be on pyjamas or in the pages of this book,
Our next dinosaur has wings and can fly,
It will teach you that there ain’t nothing you can’t defy.

The pyjamas were washed, dried and clean,
Airing on the radiator, this pterodactyl sneaked out unseen,
“Hey Jimmy!” it squeaked through a long pointed beak,
“Ever wanted to see Mount Everest’s highest peak?”

“I’ll never reach something so magnificent and high,”
“How do you know,” the reptile asked, “if you don’t even try?
Failure can offer new thoughts or a solution,
Look at us, we were wiped out but then there’s this thing called evolution.”

Our hero, our boy, our adventurer, Jim,
Opened his mind and began listening
To the stories told by the friendly carnivore,
He learnt of places, dates, history and a whole lot more.

“You’re telling me I could be an astronaut and fly to the moon,
Or I could teach young children about a song with a dish and a spoon?”
“Success isn’t money or searching for a big win,
Success is counted by the size of your grin.”

Do what makes you happy and you’ll find that you’ll soar,
You won’t need to fly on the back of a winged dinosaur.”
“I understand, but I admit flying looks pretty fun,
How about just once round the block before up comes the sun?”

Unable to avoid Jim’s irresistible charm,
The pterodactyl offered him a long scaly arm.
So children, look up, look for the magic in the skies,
You might just be in for a pleasant surprise,

There amongst the stars may be a boy in his pyjamas,
With his dinosaur on his way back from the Bahamas,
He chose to believe that nothing is impossible,
And if we all live this way, that makes us unstoppable.